HMS Thane
| (add image here) | |
| Career |  Royal Navy Ensign |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | 23 February 1943 |
| Launched: | 15 July 1943 |
| Commissioned (RN): | 19 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | October 1945 |
| Fate: | sold for scrap |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 7,800 tons |
| Length: | 495' 8" |
| Beam: | 69' 6" |
| Draft: | 26' |
| Speed: | 17.5 knots |
| Complement: | 890 officers and men |
| Armament: | 2 x 5-inch guns, 51 x twin 40mm Bofors, 10 x single 20mm Oerlikon |
| Aircraft: | 28 |
The USS Sunset (CVE-48) (previously AVG-48 then ACV-48) was assigned on 23 August 1942 to MC hull 259, a modified C3-S-A1 laid down on 23 February 1943 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Washington; launched on 15 July and redesignated CVE-48 the same day; sponsored by Mrs. C.E. Taylor; transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease agreement on 19 November; and commissioned the same day as HMS Thane (D.48) in the Royal Navy.
HMS Thane operated in the North Atlantic protecting convoys and ferrying aircraft for use in the European Theater until she was torpedoed by U-1172 and severely damaged on 15 January 1945 while in the Irish Sea. Taken to Gare Loch in the Firth of Clyde, southwest Scotland, she was examined, declared a constructive total loss and decommissioned to reserve. She was returned to United States custody while in the United Kingdom on 12 May. Determined to be of no use to the United States Navy, she was slated for disposal in October; and she was subsequently scrapped.